Books we love at 2 years old.

I have never appreciated books so much since moving to Australia. No next day, free shipping here. Books are much more expensive, and difficult to come by. And our local library, while good, seems to missing many, many of the books on our seasonal lists. It’s meant that I am currently having to be a lote more intentional with our choices, and I am seriously missing the huge choices that were available to me in the UK.

At age just-turned-two, Eilish’s interest in books seems to have have grown two-fold. She now devours them almost hungrily, will spend ages flipping through a well-loved favourite and reciting words she knows, and will sit through longer and longer periods completely engrossed. It is a complete delight, and books are turning out to be the thing our days revolve around more than ever.

Our mornings often start with a few books in bed after a long breastfeed, before we turf ourselves out to sit down at the breakfast table and do much of the same. As we are starting The Little Oak Learning’s Spring Rhythm next week, I am really looking forward to having a thematic base from which to leap into, and will be accompanying our rhythm with books on each fortnightly theme. Quiet moments before nap times are filled with written word, audiobooks are becoming much-loved in this house, and we often counter our busy mornings with slow afternoons with books on our laps and cups of tea on the side.

I thought that I would share some of our current favourites at age two, both bought from shops and borrowed from the library, to hopefully inspire those of you looking for a new read.

Books about nature:

A First Book of Nature is still being loved on in this house, and it’s used nearly every morning time at breakfast. It’s the perfect seasonal book in my opinion, and still pretty appropriate for the southern hemisphere too.

Why do we need bees?is such a great in-depth look at bees for those who are older, and at this age we get so much enjoyment in peeking behind the flaps. I alter the language a little and shorten some of the sentences to make it a little simpler to understand for Eilish at the moment.

We love The Honeybeeat the moment, such a brilliant nature story that goes through pretty much every aspect of honey-making. I love the rhyming scheme in it too.

Eilish gotSounds of Nature: World of Forestsfor her birthday, and it’s exactly the hit I hoped it would be. She adores the bird volume in the series, and we now spend a lot of time listening out for each animal. I can’t wait to use this as a jumping point into habitats. I’ve already pre-ordered the new ocean version coming out too.

Storybooks:

A lot of these are the books that we read before bed; a mixture of fiction and some less fictional (not really sure what to call these type of books!).

We have just discovered Austrailian writer Davina Bell, and we have fast become big fans of her work. All the Ways to be Smart is so lovely and inclusive, and Under the Love Umbrellais one of my favourites to read as the last book before sleep.

Shh! We Have a Planalways has Eilish laughing, and she now loves to shout the words before I get to them!

If you want a book about diverse female friendships, I cannot praise The Girls enough. Four girls who go on to share lives in which they are very much independent, bold, and fearless in their own special ways.

Tales from the Gumnut Tree. Another Australian classic, this is our first book from May Gibbs and it’s just magical. I can tell Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are going to becoming firm friends.

We have been getting so much joy out of Last Stop on Market Street, the differences in language, the inclusion of races and different abilities, the subtle discussion of wealth and poverty. It’s a favourite.

Non-fiction books:

Much of our books in this category lately have been focusing on diversity, as you can see. Growing our collection of books in this way has become even more important as Eilish is beginning to notice more and more around her.

Hats of Faithis pulled out regularly, again and again, and Eilish asks “what’s that?” of each religious headwear. It’s so gorgeously vibrant too!

Eilish can often be found flicking through Girls are Pretty…and ‘reading’ each page to herself. It breaks down the cliche of pretty little girls and has a lot of diverse girls smashing that stereotype.